The Koch family is well known for their donations to Libertarian and Republican Party causes. Now, they’re abandoning President Donald Trump and reaching out to Democrats.
In recent years, CNN writes, “the network has engaged in a major reset of its priorities and has worked to distance itself from the Republican brand in the era of President Donald Trump.”
Billionaire Charles Koch is the last of the family dynasty, and he wants to unleash his potent influence in a record breaking election effort. This year he intends to “engage in nearly 200 federal and state races,” he told CNN.
Charles has learned to embrace his Bi-partisanship, showing “support for a handful of Democrats who side with Koch’s views on issues such as trade, immigration and overhauling the criminal justice system.”
He’s still in the thick of things politically, he says, just not for Trump. He’s sitting the presidential race out, he says. At least officially.
Emily Seidel is the CEO of Americans for Prosperity, the main grassroots and political tentacle of the formidable Koch network. She relates, “the people who thought that we may have been backing down from politics are going to be surprised, because the reality is we’ve been strengthening our capabilities to go bigger than ever before.”
As part of their shift away from Trump’s “America First” nationalism, Seidel declared last year that “Americans for Prosperity would back incumbents of any political party, including Democrats.” The only qualification needed is an ability to “lead by uniting.” As in globalism.
David Koch teamed up with George Soros last month to “advance a major foreign policy objective they both share.” They intend to put an end to “America’s endless wars.” Some say, that means destroying America in the process. “Trump has created this scenario by breaking a lot of the taboos, rather fast and quickly,” Trita Parsi, a former member of Sweden’s mission to the United Nations said.
“We’re not looking for Democrats. We’re not looking for Republicans. We’re looking for people who are committed to driving on these policies that we believe will help improve the lives of all Americans.” Well, except for those deplorable Trump lovers.
Koch Industries is the second-largest privately owned company in the United States. The family business was started by Fred C. Koch, who developed a new way to refine heavy crude oil into gasoline. Fred’s four sons battled each other mercilessly in court during the 1980s and 1990s.
Brothers Charles and David built a powerful political network of libertarian-conservative donors. They plowed their profits into television and multi-media advertising. By 2019, they were the only two brothers still in the business. That year, David passed away, leaving Charles in full control.
“We feel like we are really well-positioned to bring a unique permanent grassroots infrastructure to the playing field,” Seidel relates. That’s a scary thought.
